Bartholomew the Apostle

Bartholomew the Apostle (died 55 AD), also known as Nathaniel, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Along with Jude Thaddeus, he introduced Christianity to Armenia, where he was martyred in 55 AD.

Biography
Bartholomew was born in Cana, Iudaea, Roman Empire to a Jewish family. After Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist, Philip the Apostle found Bartholomew and claimed that he had found the prophet whom Moses had spoken of in his books, believing that Jesus was the Messiah. Bartholomew had a vision of a light coming from the sky while praying under a fig tree, and, when he met Jesus, Jesus said that he had first seen Bartholomew while he was under the fig tree; Bartholomew decided that Jesus was the son of God and the King of Israel. He became one of his Twelve Apostles, and he served as a Christian missionary in Ethiopia, Mesopotamia, Parthia, and Lycaonia. He also preached the Gospel in India and in Greater Armenia, and he and Jude Thaddeus brought Christianity to Armenia, becoming the patron saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He converted King Polymius to Christianity, leading to Polymius' pagan brother Astyagus ordering Bartholomew's torture and execution by being flayed alive and then beheaded.